Bus Reusable Utensils but...

Don't Bus Throw-Away Utensils and Tableware

... because bussing disposables encourages their use
and makes reusable items less economical.

The Economics of Throw-Away Items

The concept is quite simple --

Use of disposable dinnerware shifts costs to society in increased resource usage and
increased waste. A major effect on cost is that restaurants and vendors have trained
consumers to self-bus throw-away dishes.

Bussing disposable items creates a disincentive to reusable items, and has the effect
of making disposable items more economical and re-usable items less economical.

As a secondary effect, food service workers have less tasks if there is less handling
of dishes and dishes are not cleaned. Again, this is a false economy because the
employer will only hire the number of employees necessary to run the business.

This economy is distorted because throw-away food businesses have succeeded in
convincing customers to bus their own throw-away dishes, but not bus reusable items.
This was done to give throw-away food a competitive edge, but of course makes reducing
waste less economical.

Recycling, if actually implemented, has only a trivial effect on the waste
stream.[1]Recycling is generally not re-use.

Still, most businesses will accommodate the desires of customers if customers are
sufficiently persistent. This has already happened in some sectors. Re-usable travel
coffee mugs were uncommon until 2001 (although re-fillable plastic mugs were in use
from about 1990 in some regions). Re-usable grocery bags were uncommon before about
2005. Now, these items are fairly standard.

"Formula restaurants (chains) would rather people bus the throw-aways and leave the
tableware on the tables, because that's the only way they can compete with you and put
you out of business."

Point out that the chains convinced people to bus the throw-aways in order to put
the independents out of business.

Provide reusable items.

Re-usable mugs, once a peculiarity, are now a common convenience item. (If you
run into the rare business that insists on transferring through throw-away items, say
something. After all, you're the customer! "I don't want it to taste like
foam/paper/plastic. It's also waste.")

Re-usable containers. Microwavable glassware with sealable lids are available at
discount department stores. If necessary, describe these as microwavable containers. (Most plastic containers are not, and it is not
possible to identify which, if any, are safe. Many paper products are coated and are
also not microwave-safe.)

Refuse condiments if you intend to throw them away. "I didn't ask for
these, which means they are a form of waste."

Reusable shopping bags - These are common in many areas. (Some municipalities
also impose a tax or require a fee for use of throw-away bags.)

Don't Bus Throw-Away Items

In its simplest form, disposable items are left on the table... but that is
frequently not feasible.

As an alternative, bus some, but not all throw-aways. That "breaks
the chain" of the dis-economy of convincing consumers to bus throw-aways.

Where not feasible, alternatives include:

Busing some but not all tableware (above).

Returning the items to the counter, separating or sorting the items and placing
them on trays or counters, and general comments.

Conversely, help return and sorting re-usable items in buffet and counter service
restaurants. In other words, if there is no table service, make the re-usable items
more economical.

If re-usable items or trays are mixed with throw-away items, return the re-usable
items.

There may be commercialized social pressure to bus disposables, but that does
not require thoroughness! Sometimes it is practical to neatly place the disposible
items at an adjacent (empty) table.

Even if bussing some disposible items, comment that you are doing so even though
it is "unethical".

What to Say and How To Respond

This is a political issue which runs counter to (commercially-created) social mores.
That sometimes (not always) makes individual action socially imprudent.

A likely result

It's hard to determine the result some 50 years after the initial promotion of busing of disposables, in part because the original business model was to compete with full service lunch counters. It is very possible that a significant percentage of customers not busing disposible items will "flip" the economics. If so, the result would be the use of durable tableware. This would especially be the case if restaurant managers see that durable tableware is more likely to be returned than disposable items.

Doesn't this place the burden on the workers?

Possibly, but more likely not:

The restaurant will only hire the number of workers that are needed. This is
where the diseconomy of disposable utensils and tableware is shifted back to the
business generating the waste. If the cost savings of not using reusable dishes is
offset by the cost of retrieving the waste, there is less incentive to create the
waste.

This is more than a passing issue. If consciencious citizens start leaving disposable
dinnerware on the tables, the restaurant must have sufficient workers to clean up the
restaurant's disposable dishes. This defeats the purpose of the throw-away items.

Tables must be cleared in real time; whereas a restaurant can allow reusable
dishes to accumulate during peak periods. Therefore, if a restaurant must clear the
tables, they must hire sufficient employees to handle the task during peak periods.

The economics are that use of disposables shifts the economical burden from
their payroll to municipal waste disposal.

Institutional Food; University Food Service

Institutional food service, e.g., schools, universities, afford an excellent
possibility to organise Don't Bus Throw-Away Items campaigns. This not only
impacts the institution, but also promotes a culture of intolerance for waste and
disposable service.

The economics are more direct in the university environment, in that not busing
throw-aways makes the use of durable tableware economical. If students
and others are trained to bus throw-aways, changing (back) to durable
tableware becomes a major economical hurdle.

Political Action

Some municipalities use various techniques to limit incursion of formula fast food restaurants
(chain fast food or "throw-away food" restaurants) and the like.
There are different ways of zoning this, but one approach
is to set limits on a percentage of restaurant items packaged in disposable packaging.

Say Something

If the opportunity presents itself, suggest bringing carry-mugs and the like.
(e.g., "You could take a re-fill mug." It would taste batter too.)

If you do not want to eat at a fast food resturant, state, as a reason, their use
of disposible dinnerware. - There may be other reasons you don't want to buy a meal at
McTransfats, but the concept of avoiding disposables is contageous.
(and why do some chains oppose re-usable dinnerware anyway?)

`

Is this Anti-Business?

It's pro-Business and especially pro-small business. Businesses which get away with
all-disposable service in the U.S. provide re-usable service at their locations in
other countries. This shifts costs from society to the business, stimulates
employment, stimulates the economy and provides a more pleasant experience for
customers who aren't fed on foam and paper.

Regardless, "disposing" of throw-aways represents less waste, which is the
important thing.

... but don't re-usable dishes consume water and energy?

Yes, both in manufacture and washing. Still, the chemical or paper pulp processes
required for making disposable items consumes a substantial quantity of energy and
water.

I've seen an estimate of a stainless steel coffee mug consuming 24x the resources of a
disposible cup. (This is of course a one-time manufacturing
cost. If one is not interested in high end Dewar flask-type coffee mug, then thrift
store coffee mugs consume no manufacturing resources.) Obviously,
even if one were to accept that "24x" at face value, that presumes one would
dispose of a stainless steel mug after 24 uses -- not likely!

But ...

Some Restaurants have been Very Successful with Re-Usable Tableware

These are "order-at-counter" restaurants. In an example I have seen, the
restaurant has a convenient location for used (soiled) tableware. Customers generally
return tableware to the dish return return area without anything more elaborate than
the return bins being at a convenient location. This allows the restaurant to offer very nice
"tableware" service without providing table service. More to the point, the
restaurant is positioning itself to compete with other "café" restaurants, rather than
chains. (This is a "mainstream" restaurant and bakery; not
a specialty restaurant, which is significant because it shows that
"mainstream" customers are willing to return reusable tableware.)

FOOTNOTES:

Even if recycled, recycling is much less efficient than re-use. (i.e., there are
far less resources involved in dishwashing, especially at a food service facility.)

In fast food restaurants and similar public venues, one should only bus re-usable
items and not bus disposable items.

[2]^
"Styrofoam" is a trademark of Dow Corning, but is often
used generically (especially in North America) to describe polystyrene. The
primary significance of this is that it appears that Dow Corning does not market
"Styrofoam" cups, so "Styrofoam" cups do not really exist. If
only that were true!
(There's also an ambiguity about whether "Styrofoam" is
expanded polystyrene foam or extruded polystyrene foam, a distinction that is probably
of interest primarily to plastic manufacturing engineers.)

First posted 4-Feb-12. Last revised 27-May-18.

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